


The monstrous medical school.

by TheIllusionistsExploist



Series: The monstrous medical school [1]
Category: Medicine - Fandom, Monsters - Fandom, Steam Powered Giraffe, monster au - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-09-25 03:37:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 16,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20370043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIllusionistsExploist/pseuds/TheIllusionistsExploist
Summary: Some of us enjoy to scary people, others enjoy blood and weird things. And, that’s my case. I’m a student of medicine, but not the normal student that you may know. I don’t wear white clothes and I have no stethoscope around my neck… Well, not yet. I am not a human. I’m taller than an average human girl of my age, I have pointy fangs and ears. I am a robotic dark elf! No, not the short little girl that sings and dance (I mean, I do like to sing and dance, but I’m not that kind of elf!) I was built like this and it’s, actually, a pretty good life. So… you maybe are wondering why I decided to form part of the health care professionals, well, that’s a great question that I am still trying to answer. Anyway, in this story, I’ll tell you about my classes and adventures at the Medical School for Monsters.





	1. Second year.

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [SPG Monster Verse AU 2](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20165599) by [roseprincess2018](https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseprincess2018/pseuds/roseprincess2018), [ScorpioSnoopy666](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScorpioSnoopy666/pseuds/ScorpioSnoopy666), [TheIllusionistsExploist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIllusionistsExploist/pseuds/TheIllusionistsExploist). 
**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just an introduction. The rest of the chapters will be written in the third person.

Monday morning. 5 am. I’ve never been a morning person. Mornings never take out the best of me, I can turn into a dramatic girl.  
“I love darkness, darkness is my friend! I AM THE NIGHT!” I scream while I take my cold shower (a.k.a. First part of my ritual for stay awake) just for being interrupted by my roommate “Amber! Stop being a drama queen and hurry I have to go to school too!” he says.  
And, yes, that’s me: Amber Darkown. A robotic dark elf that for a reason or another decided to study medicine. I know it’s hard to explain how a brutal creature like me decided to get into a career that involves respect and dealing with others. First, I need to make it clear: All that is a myth! The most part of the dark elves like to deal with people and help them, we are not that aggressive. However, now I feel like I can hit my roommate.

“Freid! Shut up! This lady needs her beauty treatment” I scream to him. “Well, MY LADY! That beauty treatment needs to stop! I need to take a shower too!” Freid responded.

Freid Reed, a shapeshifter. They are nice when they want. He’s been my friend since diapers and he says that he wants to be like his uncle Michael Reed, a talented doctor that works at San Diego with other monsters, he says that they are like me: robotic monsters or something.

I finally open the door and go out of the bathroom wrapped in my black towel “There you go, princess!” I scream to him as I walk rather fast into my room. He looked offended, of course, but he had no time to waste… he needs his beauty treatment too.  
I grab my black t-shirt that reads “Coffee first, work later” and put it on, looking at myself in the mirror. Yep, that’s my mood. I put on my pants and my sport shoes and I am practically ready to go down to the kitchen and prepare coffee for Freid and me: a small cup for him with two teaspoons of coffee and four teaspoons of sugar and a big cup with four spoons of coffee and four spoons of sugar for myself. After a couple of minutes Freid is sitting next to me, drinking his own coffee and giving me a sermon about the amount of coffee I drink, but, as always I don’t hear him because I have a reason: dark elves need a lot of energy to work, but he doesn’t know it and I’ve never bothered on explain.  
After we finish our coffee and fruit, we start walking to the school: a big, dark building that a lot of us consider as a second home. Of course, we already know how things work here, we’ve been here a whole year, but that doesn’t mean we know everything about everyone, there are a lot of mysteries and I can’t wait to find them all.  
Now, you are maybe asking: well, Amber, why are you writing this now that you are in the second year? Well, the answer is easy; now we exist. As older friends say “Now we are really taking you serious” so, yes. Now I’ll document how our lives as med students “officially start”.  
Wish us luck!

Amber, out.


	2. The father and the uncle

The morning shift was made for creatures who could live (or at least tolerate) the daylight. But there is always an exception for the rules. In this case, the exception was a tall, pale figure who taught blood science and multi-neural behavior. His slender body, amazing intelligence and perfect modals where his signature along with the long fans that he always showed. Dr. Langton Jarbloody was a vampire that everyone knew and admired, including Amber who had the luck of being under his protective wing (almost literally). He was his tutor and she couldn't be happier! She enjoyed to drink coffee and talk with him about different neuroscience topics.  
That morning, Amber went to his office to check on her schedule. The floor number 13. And she walked up because the elevator wasn't working (as always). Everything was dark, so she lighted a candle to show him that she was there. Dr. Jarbloody was there in the shadows, drinking his morning coffee.  
"Oh, Amber! Welcome back!" the tall man called out as he stood to shake her hand "Please, take a seat," he said as he stood from his sit to pull a chair for her.  
"Hey, dad. How are you today?" Amber asked, her deep blue eyes shining with the light of the candle as she took sit. He, of course, was not her real father, but he has always treated her as a daughter: always giving her advice and being kind with her, always taking care of her, asking her if she had eaten enough, how classes were and more. The first time she called him "Dad" it was an accident but he was good with it and told her it was okay if she wanted to call him that way. And she accepted.  
"Tired and I'll be busy tonight, I gotta read some articles. I promise that if I find a good one I'll tell you" he explained, looking at the papers on one of his bookshelves "But, I imagine you come to see your schedule".  
He grabbed a paper from his notebook "It's not a perfect schedule, but I put you in classes with the best professors. So, I hope you have an amazing semester ahead" the doctor said with a serious voice, but Amber knew he was smiling. It sounded in his voice, it was a small sign, almost inaudible, but it still was there.  
Amber took the paper and nodded, excited to see how it was gonna be. To her surprise, her first class was at 7 am. Oh, no.  
"It's 6:57 am and my first class on the first floor," she said, concerned, not even bothering to see which class it was or who was the teacher.  
"Then run," Dr. Jarbloody said, getting up to say goodbye.  
Amber nodded and ran out of the office, bursting directly to the first floor. She opened the door of the classroom just in time to find a good place just in front of the class, next to Freid and another two friends: Favi, a nekomata who was a nursery student and Chuy, a zombie that was a med student.  
"Hey, guys! How are you all?" Amber asked, showing her fangs to them before taking sit in between them. Even if her fangs weren't as long as they should be, they were growing slowly and they were stronger every time.  
"Hey, Amber! Oh! It looks like your fangs grew a centimeter more!" Favi said with her cute smile, raising her fluffy black ears.  
"Yes, and I must say that they look really good, Miss Darkown," Chuy said, taking Amber's hand and kissing her knuckles in that old fashion he liked to act.  
"Well, thank you, lady and gentleman," Amber said when suddenly someone opened the door.  
A big brown wolf entered the room, smelling the guys that were there. He stopped when he was in front of Freid and Amber "That's a good coffee the one you both consumed, guys" the wolf said before turning into a man. He was tall (Of course, not as tall as Dr. Jarbloody) and he was in his ideal weight. Dressed in black pants, white shirt, and a perfectly clean lab coat.  
"I see your tutors decided to put you in my class again," the man said to the guys "Of course, you must know that this course is different from the one we had the past semester. It’s harder and it requires a lot of attention and retentive” he explained, taking out his glasses from his coat and putting them in place, resting on his pointy nose. 

Amber, Favi, and Freid knew him from the past semester; he used to be his teacher of cells and embryology of earth monsters (a small and calmed course where they had to learn over seventy kinds of cells for each kind of monster and their general embryology… yes, it ended up being a complete mess with everyone crying and with sleep deprivation). He was now like an uncle for the girls and Freid... for Chuy… Well, for put that in easy terms, Chuy “fangirled” about him. His friends could hear him constantly talking about the work of the doctor and how much he wanted to be like him. So, yes, they were all excited about having classes with that doctor.

“For all you who don’t know me, I’m Doctor Erchid Galbow and I am here to teach you organs anatomy of earth monsters. By the end of the course, you’ll be capable of identifying and study every single part of every organ of the seventy kinds of creatures we’ll be studying,” The werewolf said, walking to one side of the classroom where a hot cup of coffee was waiting for him “So, get ready and open your notebooks. Today we’ll start with vampires” he said, excited, showing his impeccable teeth.  
At that moment, the guys knew that their brain could explode at any moment of the semester.


	3. The Unknown Caller

Amber and Favi were studying the anatomy of the skull of the vampires in one of the several study rooms at the university. It was a calmed place with a table and several chairs. The air smelled like that cheap bleach that almost all the institutions use to clean everything.

“Repeat it,” Favi told Amber for the four-time in that evening, moving her tails while the dark elf patted her head softly. She surely was a cute girl, she may look serious at first, but, just as Amber, she just needed more time to reveal her own self.

“Okay. The frontal bone of the head is longer than the one an average human would have, the jaw is pointy and the fangs start forming when-” the blue-eyed girl said before a yawn interrupted her. She had barely slept that night, all kinds of weird dreams and nightmares attacked her “Damn, I’m too tired. Let me sleep just a bit” she almost begged to the nekomata on her legs.

“No!” Favi said, before biting her knee “We gotta study, the first unit test is tomorrow and we can’t give up!” she reclaimed, looking up at her with her green (and almost hypnotic) eyes “Look, we can make an arrangement; if we finish this chapter just twice more, we can go to that fancy coffee shop you like and eat a lot of chocolate cake and drink coffee and tea” she said, moving her tails happily “Well, of course, I’ll eat my tuna and all, but just think of that chocolate cake”.

Amber looked at her with a tired expression, she hadn’t had one of those chocolate cakes since her last birthday. She wanted to sleep more than anything and she felt all confused and done with anatomy, but finally nodded “Fine, you got me. Let’s see” she sighed, rolling her eyes and patting her head softly one more time “Well, the vampire anatomy can be confused with a human’s, but the vampires have different kinds of bone cells that-” she was cut again, but not for a yawn. Her phone was ringing. But that was impossible! She always turned the volume down when she was studying and she was sure that evening was not the exception. She looked at the artifact and then at her friend.

Favi was suddenly on the table, smelling and touching the phone as if it was a strange new thing. Amber rolled her eyes and took it “I was sure it was silenced” she said, looking at the screen “Dr. Jarbloody?” she asked confused. He never called her when he knew she was studying, it was surely an emergency.

“Hello? Dr. Jarbloody? Is everything ok?” the dark elf asked in a confused and concerned tone when she answered the phone “Dr. Jarbloody?” she asked again.

“Your dad is not here, crying baby… not anymore” A deep voice said on the other side of the line “Tell me, young doctor, what happens when a vampire eats garlic?” the voice asked before hanging off.

She was cold. Her body was trembling and she felt as if she could faint at any moment. She didn’t hear when Favi asked what was wrong, she didn’t hear when Freid got inside the room and offered her a hot cup of coffee. All she could hear were her own steps as she ran to the stairs and her falling tears as she got into her tutor’s office. Everything was upside down! Even the mirror he liked to have there as a way to show irony was broken; lifeless pieces of glass were all around the floor. 

She almost jumped in terror when her friends opened the door and gasped at the scene they saw “What happened?” Freid asked, running next to her. Amber was all confused and scared, looking around until she saw something weird on the desk. She froze for a millisecond “F-Favi… Call Dr. Preich” she said as she walked close to what she saw.

Favi only nodded and ran out of the dark office to find the director: Dr. Preich, an old dragon that had fought in many ancient wars against evil monsters. 

Amber’s tears grew heavier when she saw how the desk was. Everything in that metallic surface was totally clean. There were just two things: a candle to light it and a plate with garlic bread just in the middle of it. “No… No, no, no, no!” she cried in terror as she knelt in front of it.

Freid went by her side and tried to calm her, but, as everyone knows, when a dark elf is hurt in any way, they turn… darker, aggressive even. Amber tried desperately to not turn aggressive, but the pain was burning so hard inside her that she couldn’t hold it. She hit the ground and opened a wound in her hand, and blood started running down her knuckles. A scream of frustration invaded the room; she didn't care about her hurt hand. 

Dr. Jarbloody, her almost father, was gone.


	4. Alleged guilty

After finding the office of her tutor in a complete mess, all was a blur. She remembered the voices of Freid and Chuy taking her to another place. She remembered the voice of Dr. Preich screaming at her something like "Where's the body? Did you move anything?" she really wasn't sure. She remembered how he called her a risk for everyone, he… Used the term destructor? Or was it a killer? A pain? A pain killer? Whose blood was there? Someone else was screaming or at least it felt like that in the back of her head. "We should never have accepted you here!" someone screamed at her.

She woke up sweating and breathing heavily, her blue eyes were full of tears and her thoracic chamber was trembling. She looked around and realized that she wasn't at home. She was still at school. Tied on the bed of the school's practice room. 

"What?" Amber asked half-awake, trying to desperately move her hands away. She was growing scared "What's going on in here?! SOMEBODY, HELP ME!" the young dark elf screamed, finding it impossible to move. 

The door opened to reveal a small, dark figure who walked closer to her "Good morning Miss Darkown" he said, looking at her with a political expression that only his black eyes, hidden behind old fashioned glasses "You've been here for three days. And you're finally awake, so now we can start with the questions" he explained. 

"What were you doing at Dr. Jarbloody's office three days ago?" he asked. His tone was still political but sounded angrier. 

"I-I received a call from the doctor… But it wasn't him, it was a deep voice that told me that he was gone" Amber explained as heavy tears fell down her eyes "When I got there and saw the mess I asked Favi to look for you". 

The Doctor in front of her nodded and let out a small cloud of smoke "I see. Miss Darkown, I don't believe you" he said coldly "Do you wanna know what I believe? I think you got into the doctor's office and made him eat that garlic bread and then you broke everything there" the man said. 

"What?! That's impossible! I'd never hurt Doctor Jarbloody!" Amber cried "What makes you think I'd ever do that?! I've never hurt anyone!" she screamed at him.   
"I've seen what your people can do. They kill, it's their nature and the violence and insane desire to kill runs through your veins" the man simply responded "I fought in wars against your people and they always were the murderers of the innocent people" The Doctor screamed at her. 

"What?! Not all of my people are murderers, Doctor Preich! My family always taught me to respect others and I've always hated the idea of killing!” Amber said desperately “I’d never hurt anyone! That’s why I decided to get into medical school! I-I swear I’m telling you the truth!” she screamed, crying harder every time. 

Doctor Preich went closer to her, showing his pointy teeth "You're a dark elf, a monster without a heart" he groaned "You don't deserve to be here". 

Amber was about to protest, she wanted to tell him that it was false, she wanted to fight back, but she wasn't strong enough. She just looked down and sobbed. It was the first time; the first time she'd ever cried at school. For what she felt like hours but that were mere seconds the only noise that could be heard in that cold room was her desperate cry.   
The killing silence was interrupted by someone opening the door "The guys found him… alive" said a deep voice that sounded familiar to the girl, but she was so sad and confused to identify it. 

"What?" The director asked, turning to face the shadow. 

"They followed the passage that Dr. Jarbloody uses to exit the school during the day and found him intoxicated there. He's now at the hospital, but doctors say that he'll be fine" the voice explained. 

Amber looked up "He's alive" she whispered happily, her tears of pain were changed for small tears of happiness. 

A little ball of happiness busted into the room, moving her tails in excitement "He's alive! Doctor Jarbloody is alive! Did you hear that? They are gonna let you go!" Favi said, standing next to Amber and trying to untie her. 

Dr. Preich didn't look happy as the shadowy figure left the room, but none of the girls noticed that as the nekomata hugged her friend. The director said no word as he untied Amber and walked out of the room.

Amber hugged her friend, crying against her shoulder "I gotta see him, make sure he's ok" she sobbed. The only response from the cute nekomata was a nod as she helped her to get up "We'll go see your tutor and then we'll study for tomorrow's test" she whispered, earning a small giggle from the dark elf. 

A few minutes later they were outside a hospital room, looking inside as a nurse handed a glass full of blood to Dr. Jarbloody and he drank it slowly as the gentleman he was. "He looks better now. When we found him he was almost dead. He was saying things like: brain, blood, garlic, and other stuff. He was totally intoxicated” Freid said, walking closer to them and handing a cup of coffee to Amber. 

She didn’t want to drink it, but, deep inside she knew that she needed to be strong at that moment, so, she had no other choice but drink it all. The coffee of the hospital was awful, if Doctor Galbow was there he’d say that the person who chose it at the store had no good taste… or that they had no taste at all. That thought made the dark elf smile slightly, she could even hear the voice of the werewolf in her head. 

“Where’s Chuy?” Favi asked, looking around to try to find their friend. 

“He’s with Dr. Galbow, they are checking the results of the blood test, but it looked like they didn’t find anything weird; just a normal intoxication” The shapeshifter explained, moving the direction on the direction of the medical room.

“No… that wasn’t a normal intoxication. Someone was trying to kill him, someone that hates him… and me” Amber whispered, looking down “There must be something on those results” she shocked her head, walking in the direction that Freid pointed. Something was happening… something completely insane.


	5. They weren’t enough

“So, as you can see, guys. The unicorns are very powerful, but still dangerous when they want to” Doctor Galbow concluded, showing the picture of the horn of Malthus van Hoofus, the most powerful Unicorn in the country.

A group of three little onmorakis that were sitting behind Amber started to giggle “Yes, very dangerous” one of them said. “Their level of danger is so high that my mom was able to buy one as a servant” another one laughed. “Ha! Yes, I bet they are real beasts!” the last one said.

The dark elf was not in the mood of hearing those bird-demons. They were always talking pestis about others, always being awful persons who, ironically, had better social lives than hers. 

“Unicorns are not creatures of service. They are warriors more powerful than the three of you together, so, could you please stop talking bullshit about them and learn how to respect others?!” Amber hissed at them, turning to look at them with an angry look that, being honest, was almost as awful as her mood. She had eyebags, her hair was a mess and there were pimples all over her face. 

The onmorakis looked at her before bursting into laughter “Look who’s talking! The only dark elf in this school! You’re the only creature here that should learn how to respect others!” Roshikay, the leader of that group said. “Yes, first, fix your awful face and then you can talk to us!” Alishikay continued. “Just her face?! Let her fix her whole being!” Edushikay, the only boy of the three laughed.

The dark elf was about to let what reminded of her patience to disappear and just hit those assholes but an almost healing hand touched her shoulder and made her turn. “Miss Darkown, don’t you dare,” Doctor Galbow groaned before going closer to her “You’re better than this and you better use that energy to help us solve the case” he whispered.   
“Onmorakis, your behavior is totally awful and not proper of future doctors. It’s a shame that we don’t have the mission of qualifying that aspect because you’d surely be out of this school if we did” the werewolf groaned “Now, go out of the classroom”.

The three bird-demons left, looking at Amber with pure hate and disgust. She simply rolled her eyes “If I weren’t studying for saving lives I swear I’d kick their asses” she protested after they closed the door. Favi, Freid, and Chuy were sitting next to her and simply nodded; they were in similar shapes as her, but they had to admit that she was the most affected for this. 

“But, believe me when I tell you, they’ll fail for their own actions, you don’t need to do something for them to find their destiny,” Doctor Galbow sighed, taking the papers from the table and handing a copy to each one “For now, the only thing that matter is to find out what happened to Dr. Jarbloody” he said.

“Wasn’t it a simple intoxication?” Chuy asked, drinking a brain yogurt. 

“We thought that, but, after the stomach test, we noticed that he didn’t eat that garlic breath. So, it can’t be a simple intoxication. Plus, he’s presenting other symptoms that may suggest the presence of another kind of pathology,” Doctor Galbow explained.

“What?! But he had all symptoms and signs of intoxication… or that’s what the person who attacked him wanted us to believe” Freid said.

“But then it was a toxin, but still, why does the blood test show that everything is in order?” Favi asked concerned, looking again and again at the blood test.

Amber looked at the corner of the classroom, where the picture of the horn of Malthus van Hoofus was still on the screen, trying to focus on something that could give her a miraculous answer. It was big. Big and brown… just like the cup of coffee that her almost father always drank. She knew the symptoms that the werewolf was talking about; her tutor started to have a neurological problem. She realized that when he was talking to her, trying to remember what happened. 

“It was a warm morning, and I was preparing my usual cup of coffee with six spoons of coffee, two spoons of sugar and three of blood,” the vampire had told her. But it was a lie, she knew it. He could barely move his hands and…

“His coffee” she whispered “He always puts eight spoons of coffee, four of sugar and seven of blood,” she said “He could barely move, he is not capable of performing the solo of Hamlet and he knew that by heart” 

Galbow looked at her “Neurological degeneration… why?” he asked, taking a sip of his own coffee.

“There are no toxins in his blood nor in the stomach. Then?” Freid said.

“It’s a neurotoxin… and the only way that it’s acting that fast is…” Favi continued.

“Someone applied a VERY strong neurotoxin at a strategical place” Chuy concluded.

“The Central Nervous System,” Amber said before swearing something inaudible “This test is not enough” she groaned, dropping the papers to the ground.


	6. Memories

The man was looking at the window, admiring the moon and stars. He smiled as she was able to remember the name of some of the constellations: the big dipper, Sagittarius, Linx. 

Linx. Just like the name of his loved daughter. He'd lost them a long time ago. 

He'd forget the day she was born. She was so tiny and cute and fragile. From that moment on, he knew that the only thing he wanted to do was to protect her for the rest of eternity. 

An eternity that never happened… Those were the best hundred and fifty years of his entire existence. 

Linx was as beautiful as her mother and brilliant as her father. She had beautiful brown eyes and black hair. Her little smile illuminated his life more than the brightest sun in the whole galaxy and he found it impossible to stay sad or angry whenever he saw that smile. 

The girl was just so perfect to his eyes! She was growing perfectly healthy and with good habits. She could have lived a long life full of success. 

But, then the fire started. People arrived at his home, asking for answers, they already suspected of their different nature. The people of the village where he used to live called him a monster and hit him until he was barely able to walk. The little family tried to run away but they were surprised by a group of hunters that the persons of the village had contacted. 

They decided to take different ways, the objective was that they could follow him. But they failed. The hunters got his wife and daughter and made him look at how their lives disappeared with different methods of torture. 

He couldn't understand. Why?! He'd always been good with the villagers! He'd never shown his own nature to protect his family! He'd never killed anyone!   
Not, until that moment. When he saw the fire consuming the bodies of the persons he loved the most in the whole world. He didn't know how he had managed to get free from the hunters despite the several injuries he had. He didn't know how he had been able to see the air going out of their lungs as their faces turned into different shades of white and green. He didn't know how he turned off the fire. He didn't know how he was capable of holding the corpses of his wife and his daughter one last time.   
He also had no idea of what happened next. Everything had happened so fast. The next thing he remembered was that he arrived at the village where he visited every home.   
First, he knocked on the door of Mr. Angston. He tied him on a chair, stomping the circulation of his hands and feet. He went to look for his wife and son, bringing them in front of the poor, tied man. In that room, they could hear the screams of panic and then the characteristic sounds of a fire burning as it consumed the lives of the blond woman and the little boy. 

Of course, those were awful memories that he always had to carry. How he turned wild after losing his family. How the little kids cried for mercy, telling their parents that it hurt until their little voices got weaker and weaker. How the woman cried, begging that he let the children live. How the man cursed and screamed, trying to protect their families.   
Yes! He now regretted all of that… but after they took what he loved the most with no other justification than being different, what else mattered?! His wife never hurt anyone! His daughter didn’t kill a fly! And he… he had always been kind to everyone. 

After he took the last soul from that village he understood what he did. He looked down at his hands with blood and burns. He had killed a whole village! Seven hundred and eight souls had gone that day. He was a murderer.

And he knew that, no matter what he did after that tragedy, he’ll always be a murderer. 

Even if he had spent the next three hundred years of his life to try to revindicate himself, he always dreamed about that goddamn night. The night when the loves of his life died.  
The night when he turned into the terror of that old, ghostly village.


	7. Research

“Then, we’re having a neurological degeneration. Not only affecting peripheric neurons but affecting the memory itself” Freid explained, trying to draw the brain and the possible zones affected.

“Plus he has problems with vision and… almost everything” Chuy continued, checking all the results they had. “Do we have the magnetic resonance already?” 

“They arrived half an hour ago. Doctor Galbow and Amber are checking on it” Favi said before finishing her fresh tuna.

“Alzheimer!” the dark elf said, entering the room, followed by the werewolf. “Or at least it looks like that”   
“Alzheimer? But he’s a vampire! They produce a lot of natural antioxidants because they drink blood! Plus, they have more neurons than other kinds of monsters” Chuy said

“We know, but look at the resonance. Specifically, these zones” Dr. Galbow said as he showed the picture. “His brain presents affections in the central part. All the memory parts are involved and getting every time more affected”

“And, according to what we know, the most probable cause is that someone injected some kind of protein in his system… Maybe something that helped increase the tau protein” Amber said, checking on the rest of the papers and results.

“Well, that’s right. Because, according to the resonance, there are no senile plates and the test doesn’t show any alteration in the quantity of the Aβ peptide. So, maybe he has fibrillar clews all around that area… a lot of them” Favi concluded. 

Amber nodded. That was the only way for it to be that way. As complicated as it was, all she could do now was a wait to see how her tutor forgot everything, how his brain went every time drier and…

No. That was not the only thing.

“Dr. Jarbloody had researched these cases recently, he told me that after the first exam day of your class,” She said to the werewolf “I’m gonna go to his office, he must have something there” she rushed out of the room.

She could hear how small paws moved on the floor behind her “I’m going with you! I won’t let you alone… I am your friend after all” the nekomata said with a purr. The only response that she got was a pat and a sincere smile from the dark elf who continued running up the stairs afterward. 

Entering the office of her almost father was still a shock for Amber, she could still smell the mix of blood, coffee, and garlic. She felt as if she could throw up just there, but held herself as she walked inside the cold place. The metallic environment made her think of herself, how she could mix perfectly with her surroundings. That’d be a good joke for the guys in her elementary school, they were very cruel about it. They called her Metallic Girl, Hearthless Machine, and other despective names. 

All those feelings of her past and her present mixed, creating a ball of fear and sadness in her chest. “No, Amber. It’s no moment for sentimentalisms” she whispered to herself, feeling how rebel tears fell down her cheeks.

What she felt didn’t matter at that moment. She had one objective: find something to try to save Dr. Jarbloody.

“Let’s see” The dark elf approached the bookshelves were the Doctor kept the investigations and articles that he enjoyed to read. Everything was in perfect order. Everything was perfectly clean there… That was unbelievable.

Something was wrong. Doctor Jarbloody was the best in his field… All kinds of neuroscience. Everything from every creature…Even vampires. The person who attacked him surely knew that and knew how much Doctor Jarbloody valorized his memory.

“Our memories and experiences make us the persons we are” he had told her once.

All those pieces of knowledge were there, in those perfectly organized bookshelves. Everything… EVEN the possible cure for his current condition. The person who attacked must have known that! 

Then… WHY ON FREACKING EARTH EVERYTHING WAS IN ORDER?! Amber could easily see that none of the investigations were missing. 

The pieces didn’t match. The monster who attacked him had the experience, that’s why they had made believe that it was just a violent fight ending in intoxication. It was personal, they caused a kind of Alzheimer to a being that adored his brain. But, at the same time, it was pointless to not taking the information that literally anybody could use to save him. Did they want this? Maybe there was no actual cure but an antidote to stop the memory loss. Did they want the Doctor to continue living without his valuable memories? To suffer the loss of all that knowledge?  
She stopped in her tracks when she realized all that. Was all that right? Then the creature who did this was gonna win. The future suffering of the doctor was their mission.

But she was studying for being a doctor. She had to help him to CONTINUE LIVING. He could get his memories back later. They had to find a way to preserve his life. With that, she took the binder that read “Memory loss” and walked out of the office, followed by Favi who had taken other binders with different information that may work.


	8. Letters for a researcher.

Freid’s uncle was almost a celebrity at the school. Everyone knew the history of how the famous shapeshifter had graduated with honors from medical school. Freid fangirled about his uncle almost as much as Chuy fangirled about Doctor Galbow. 

Of course, it was a lot of responsibility for him. He felt as if he had to keep the reputation of his last name. Amber always said “You’re the smartest of all of us. I bet it’ll be easy for you to show them you’re the best Reed ever” But he always thought that it was pretty complicated. 

Of course, his uncle was always willing to help him and Freid… Enjoyed reading his letters. The dark elf who was his roomie knew it; there was even a ritual: If he found a letter from Michael Reed, they’d both would sit at the table with two big cups of coffee and eat cookies while Freid read it. And then, they spent a whole night to talk about the most recent news and research that San Diego’s shapeshifter had provided to them. 

“Oh, look! My uncle says that he’s working with a Dhampir!” Freid said while a sleepy and sad Amber sat in front of him.

“A Dhampir? That’s just a myth. Which vampire would be that dork to have a child with a woman, knowing that the child could kill him in the future?!” the exasperated dark elf said, finishing her coffee. 

“Well, my uncle says she’s a really sweet girl” Freid protested, noticing how tired his friend looked. He was concerned about her. She was her best friend, almost his sister! She could be a drama queen, a stubborn and sometimes an aggressive roomie, but she was still his best friend.

“Hey, Am...Go to sleep. It’s being a hard week and you need some rest” Freid said “Don’t worry about anything, I’ll keep an eye on stuff” he said, turning into a Cyclops. The dark elf couldn’t help but laugh “Okay, keep THAT eye on stuff” she giggled, rubbing the back of her neck. “I’ll see what I can do” The shapeshifter sighed with a wink, turning back to his normal form.

Amber got up and walked to her room, taking off her shoes and going directly to her bed. She was exhausted, she hadn’t slept in three days, she had used every free moment to read about Alzheimer's and neurotransmitters in vampires, and she felt as if she could just faint at any moment. Her bed was full of papers and tests about the current case. The floor of her room full of pens and pencils, sticky notes and trash. Everything was a mess, and her head was not an exception.   
When his friend was in a deep and peaceful sleep, Freid took a paper and started writing. She usually only write to his uncle to thank him for the new info, but this time was different:

“Dear Uncle:   
I know I’ve never asked you for a favor, but now, I really need your help…” the young man wrote. 

After about a half-hour of writing, he ran out of the house to send the letter. The shapeshifter was breathless when he arrived at the postal office, asking the woman in front of him to send it as fast as she could. The woman looked confused but only nodded after he paid her. 

Freid walked back to the house, feeling as if someone was looking at him. He felt like a paranoic every time he looked back to try to discover the person who observed him and there was no one there. The evening was cold and dark and the visible fear in his face didn’t help.

He could only feel calmer when he closed the door of his face and went to read his favorite book with more coffee and cookies.

But he never imagined that someone was observing them, looking from the air. Someone that didn’t want them to stop the memory loss of Dr. Jarbloody.


	9. Perfect crime (doesn't exist).

Amber was next to the hospital bed, looking at her almost father. She had been there for five hours now, but she felt as if she'd already been there a whole day. Paying attention to any other symptom that he may present, checking on his vital signs every half hour. 

She didn't believe when someone told her that being a doctor at the hospital was a totally different thing than being a patient or a familiar. But nobody told her that it was harder to be both. You get fiscally, emotionally and mentally tired. You gotta study the case while you watch over the patient you're concerned about. 

She felt dizzy, she wanted to sleep, she wanted to stay awake, to throw up, to cry, to be stronger, to run away, to stay there. A lot of contrary thoughts crossed her mind.  
She looked up at the vampire laying on the hospital bed. "I'm gonna find a way to help you… I still don't know how, but I promise I'm gonna do it".

Suddenly there was a change in the air; the room felt even colder than usual. She turned around trying to find the source of the unexpected freezing breeze that invaded the place but there was nothing, all the windows were closed, the air conditioner was at the same level as always. Everything seemed normal. 

"Amber?" a weak voice asked at the opposite side of the room. He still smelled like the blood that he had drunk that morning and he still looked sick, paler than usual. The eyes that once looked excited about new discoveries and a deep love for life were now were all swollen and red. His fangs didn't look as bright as always, they actually looked yellow and weak. 

"Oh, God! Dr. Jarbloody!" Amber exclaimed, running to his side of the bed "Are you okay? How do you feel? Dad, do you remember me? Do you remember my name?" she asked desperate, letting fall some of the tears she'd been holding. 

"Oh, Amber… what are you doing here?" the vampire asked "You should be at school, you have to present tests" 

"No, I presented them before. You're remembering! We... We gotta tell to someone! You'll get better! We’ll find the way of giving your memories back” the girl sobbed, crying in excitement.

“Oh no, Amber...I… I didn’t want you to see this” Dr. Jarbloody said, touching his hand in pain as he started breathing with difficulty.  
That wasn’t a good sign. That wasn’t a good sign at all. 

“Dad, w-what?” she started, checking on his hand. There was a little point of blood next to the radial artery. A wound caused by an injection. "What?! How?!" she'd been the whole time there! She hadn't fallen asleep during all that time! 

Langton Jarbloody, the doctor that everyone loved, the vampire with the best memory anyone had ever known, was having a heart attack.

It started to rain outside. The raindrops fell violently to rest on the soil. The people outside tried to protect themselves from the heavy rain. Everyone except a man. He looked at the window of the third floor, where he could see a desperate dark elf screaming for help, trying to bring the vampire back to life. He only smiled as another of his jobs was finished. 

He was the perfect killer. The enemy that no one could see.

But he never imagined that the syringe that he had used to insert the substance into the vampire’s body could fell onto the floor. But he didn’t notice it either, he only turned around and left, smiling at himself as he walked home thinking about the good food he’ll have in front of him when his payment arrived.

He didn’t care about the girl that was now screaming with heavy tears in her eyes.

“Help! Please! Anybody!” Amber was calling out, too panicked to even try to do something. She was frozen when different doctors came and, suddenly, everything seemed to pass in slow motion.

She saw when they used the defibrillator, placing the cold plates on the Doctor’s chest. She saw when an Oread nurse pulled her out of the room. She saw when her friends arrived running, asking what had happened. She saw when Doctor Preich appeared, screaming at her, asking if she was the only one there, asking why she wasn’t doing anything.

She couldn’t! She simply couldn’t move! She was completely frozen, scared; she was a crying mess.

And the mess got worse when she turned and saw how the doctors stopped and could read one of the doctor’s lips telling: 

“I’m sorry… hour of the death?”


	10. Run.

The next thing the dark elf felt knew was that everything went silent. Her friends were just as shocked as her when an ogre brought a back transportation table to the room to transport him to the coldest part of the hospital. 

She was still speechless when she felt a hot hand taking her shoulder. It wasn't a warm, comforting hand. It was an almost burning, aggressive hand, digging its nails into the metal of her skin. And of course, she knew who's hand was that… only a dragon could have such a temperature. 

She turned to look at the man behind her and she felt fear when she noticed that, even if his glasses were fogged, she could still see his yellow snake-like eyes. Those eyes that, if they were capable of piercing her thorax, they’d do that without a doubt. The dark elf could feel how her blood ran cold and almost could freeze inside her veins and arteries.  
“You did it!” Doctor Preich screamed at her, pushing her onto the floor with all his forces.

Amber smashed against the floor, being too weak to defend herself. The tears were still falling down her face. She was sobbing and covering her face, moving to the fetal position… 

“Fun fact about the fetal position: When someone feels really scared, the brain gives orders to the body, telling to find a way to stay safe, that way we try to go back to the safest place we think we’ve been that’s, obviously, the belly of our mothers. Ironically, the fetus is still too weak and in severe danger because of every possible trauma or infection. But the irrational and sentimental part in us tells us that it was safer inside our mother than outside… Sometimes that’s right, other times no” The voice of her tutor passed through her head. He’d told that to her when they were discussing defense mechanisms. She was so excited that day; she was gonna start her investigation about the myth of the ferocity of dark elves, trying to clean the image of her raze and Dr. Jarbloody was excited about it. He’d decided to be her tutor when she saw her passion for all kinds of neuroscience; he knew she’d be a good element. And now, the man who believed in her capacity, in her potential, in her good heart and passion for helping others was gone. How could someone kill a person that had been so kind to them? How could she ever kill or even hurt him?!...

Freid and Chuy were trying to keep Dr. Preich from her. The dragon, however, used his corporal temperature to make them let him go. The shapeshifter and the zombie took a step back, trying to ease the pain caused by the doctor’s hot skin.

“You killed him! You were responsible for this! You did this!” He screamed as he grabbed her by the collar and pressed her against the nearest wall, looking at her with pure hate.   
Amber couldn’t do anything but shook her head in desperation. She was sad, scared, tired, all at the same time. 

“I told him to be careful with creatures like you! I knew you were dangerous! I knew!” He screamed, hitting her back hard against the wall time after time.

“Doctor, stop!” A voice demanded in the distance. Another professional of health care was looking at him with angry eyes.

The dragon only turned and saw Amber again “I knew he was an idiot because of trusting you… and now he’s dead” he groaned.

That was the last straw. She couldn’t hold it anymore; the anger mixed with the sadness running through her brain. With a fast and strong move, she punched Doctor Preich’s face so hard that she broke his nose, making him fall to the floor and groan in pain. 

Oh, no. Now she was the monster. She didn’t mean to hurt him… She just wanted him to stop. She looked down at her hands, then at his friends and the werewolf next to them. They had their mouths open in surprise; none of them had ever expected to see her hurting anyone. 

She was starting now to feel the guilt for Dr. Jarbloody’s death even if she didn’t have any kind of responsibility there… Or, did she? She didn’t stop whoever injected the poison in his system. She hadn’t found the cure. She hadn’t helped him when he had a heart attack… She felt totally guilty.

And now she’d punched someone and broke his nose! 

She felt like the worst evil monster in the world.

And suddenly, before anyone could say anything else, she ran out of the hospital with no apparent direction.


	11. How someone’s funny fall can save the day

Favi and Chuy were still at the hospital, concerned about Amber’s safety. While Doctor Preich wanted to find her to put her in jail, they wanted to find her to save her or at least hide her as long as they could. 

Doctor Galbow and Freid went out to look for her, obviously, looking for her in places where no one could ever imagine to find her because the cops would be looking for her in said places.

“Where do you think she is?” The nekomata asked in fear, looking at her black, fluffy tails.

“I don’t have an idea. She could be literally anywhere… She could be at the mall; she hates to go there” Chuy said, drinking a brain tea that, for his taste, needed more sugar.

“She could be at that store we found the other day where a guy offered us a cheap pair of t-shirts… She could be at the public pool where a baby cyclops pee into the pool where she was swimming” Favi explained.

“Wait, did that really happen?! I thought Amber just said to make me laugh” the zombie giggled.

Favi nodded and couldn’t help but smile “I told her to go to another place, but she didn’t listen and the next thing she knew was that the water was blue around her” she explained “She was furious but didn’t say nothing to the boy… She wanted to scream to his parents but she held her tongue”.

Chuy was laughing hard “Wait, then are you telling me that the time when she accidentally fell against the ice cream man while trying to learn how to skate was true too?!” 

“Yes! Hahahaha I still remember that day! I spent the whole evening licking her hair and face! They tasted like chocolate and strawberry” she laughed, remembering the sunny day when her friend decided to be a badass and try the skateboard.

Amber was just an innocent and honest ball of condensed cuteness and anger. She was a little dork naturally, as if she had the decoded gen for being silly.  
Chuy smiled and shocked his head “She’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had” he said, feeling sad at the thought of her being in danger. 

He looked at Favi and as if they were thinking the same, they got up.

“We gotta look for her” Favi nodded, walking out of the hospital and being followed by the zombie. 

When they were outside, the rain had stopped. Favi ran down the frontal stairs, trying to follow any indicative of her smell. 

Chuy tried to follow her step “Oh, Favi! Wait! W-We need a plan!” he called out.

“The plan is to find her, get on that,” she groaned, but before she said another thing she heard a gasp.

It looked as it looks in animated movies or video games. A bananas peal was on the floor and Chuy hadn’t seen it. The little nekomata stared with wide eyes as she saw how her friend was slowly falling onto the floor in the most comical way ever!

A big and loud laugh was heard as she looked at the scene, followed by a very concerned supernatural kitten running to the side of her friend “Hahahaha! Oh, Lord! Hahaha! Now I’ll have to tell this to Amber. Chuy, Chuy, are you okay?” she asked in between giggles.

“Agh, yes… My butt hurts,” The guy said, trying to get up when he suddenly saw something next to him “Hey, look! It’s a syringe!” 

“Amm, yes, Chuy, we have a lot of them,” the girl said.

“No, I mean. A professional of health care would never leave a syringe that way! And less with blood on it” he groaned pointing to it.

Favi was now interested “Do you think that maybe…?” 

“Honestly, I don’t know. But we have only one way to find it out… I need a clean fabric and a bag” The zombie said, working a plan in his brain.


	12. Memories of a lonely graveyard.

It had been a long time since she hadn’t visited that place. She’d always hated to go there, it brought her a lot of sad memories. Memories that she’d rather leave in the old house. But, for some reason, she simply needed to be there. The place felt cold and dark as if it had its own dark cloud on top.

She walked to the deepest part of it, looking down at the small monuments and inscriptions until she found her destination.

“Hello, mom… Hello, dad” she said, kneeling in front of the graves. Their stones didn’t have any fancy scripting, just their names and the dates of their births and deaths. 

“I know I haven’t come here to see you… You must think I’m the worst daughter” she cried, letting all her things fall down her hace "I'm so sorry, I'm a terrible person" she whispered "You both died because of me and now… Jarbloody… It's all my fault" 

She could still remember the times when her biological mother took her to the cemetery to see her father who died before she was born. “He was not even able to see you” her mother used to say. And she remembered how a man arrived at her old house “Hello, Amber. I’m Mr. Isulth… I am here to tell you that… Your mom is now with your dad. I’m sorry… I’ll take you to a new home”. She’d spent the most part of her teen ages at an orphan house. 

The only person she’d always been close to was Freid; she met him when they were just babies and he’d always accepted her, always going to the same school, in the same classroom. Not even the orphan house could take their friendship apart. 

“I am an awful monster. I feel guilty… Did dad die because of me? Did mom die because of me? Did I kill Dr. Jarbloody?” the dark elf asked between painful sobs. She could feel how every muscle of her body was aching, how her blood passed through all her veins, how her arterial pressure was going up.

She wanted to join them, she didn’t want to continue in that world of sadness where everyone believed that she was evil….even herself.

“Amber?” a soft, calmed voice asked from behind. A werewolf was behind her, walking closer.

“Don’t come close! I don’t wanna hurt you,” she screamed, covering her face “I’m an evil being” 

“An evil being wouldn’t care of hurting someone,” the wolf said sitting next to her and looking down at the graves “I bet they’d be proud of the woman you turned to be” 

“He didn’t know me and she died for my fault… trying to earn enough money for us to live” Amber explained, looking down.

“I’m sure it was not your fault, Amber… and Jarbloody’s death isn’t your fault either” Doctor Galbow explained, still in his wolf form “Some son of a b… Some evil person did this, but you...You are not evil. You’re the most innocent girl I’ve ever met” 

“I am not! I… I punched Doctor Preich!” she said, looking at him.

“Well… being fair, he deserved it. He’s not the nicest dragon” Galbow laughed “It was funny to see him fall down the floor… I had the theory that he was gonna scream like a little girl, but I was wrong”  
Amber couldn’t help but laugh at that “Well, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time” 

After a few moments of silence, the doctor turned back to his human form “The doctor is looking for you… and he wants you in jail. But we are gonna hide you. There must be something, a clue or anything so we can clean your name”.

The dark elf looked at him with a smile “You really think I am a good person?” she asked. Her eyes were still red and swollen for all the crying. 

Doctor Galbow nodded “Langton trusted you… And he was one of the smartest persons I’ve ever know” he sighed “He saw you since you were about to do the admission test, you know? He saw how you were talking to Freid about the neuropsychiatric pathologies and he was stunned. He told me that he had no doubt that you’d be capable of getting in. He really had amazing expectations about you”.

“Really?” Amber asked, small tears welling up in her eyes.

“Yes. I think that he saw you as the daughter he never had since the beginning” he smiled at her “And I know he’d hate to see you in prison” he got up, offering a hand to her “Let’s go find a good place to hide” 

The young girl smiled and took his hand, getting up and walking with him to try to find a safe place.


	13. Fangirling.

The letter had arrived, but Freid had been too occupied to pay attention to that. He had to take some stuff for Amber to the place where she was hiding at a house near the beach. A place far from a forest and too close to water; nobody could imagine a mechanic dark elf living in those conditions. Of course, she was feeling it. Her bones ached and her head turned hard when she smelled the sea. Those weren’t good conditions for her.

However, after Chuy and Favi had come into the house telling that they had found the syringe with Dr. Jarbloody’s blood and marks of fingers that weren’t Amber’s everything was better… even if they didn’t know who was the owner of the fingerprints. They were still trying to find out, but they’d already passed them through a lot of programs and there was no sign of matches. 

The things turned even better when there was a knock at the door of Freid’s house. The little shapeshifter opened the door slowly, fearing that a policeman was waiting for him there, but thankfully, it was the opposite. Outside the door, there was a young guy with short, blonde hair, smiling at the little med student. 

“Hey, Freid!” Michael Reed said. His uncle, the famous doctor, THE SHAPESHIFTER OF SAN DIEGO was in front of him. 

Fried was speechless as the surprise and happiness invaded his body, he looked kinda lost and a bit silly. The only answer he was capable of say was “Hi” 

Michael laughed a bit when he saw him “Hey, nephew… Are you ok? Are you breathing? Please, breath. I don’t wanna save lives during my vacation, I just passed through a lot of disasters and I’m kinda tired” he joked.

Freid had never seen his uncle! He’d only communicated with him with letters, so having him that close was another level! He knew he looked ridiculousness like that: with his jaw hanging, his eyes all wide and a small drop of saliva going out of his mouth. He tried to recover his composure and creating a good dialog.

“Hey, Uncle Mike!” the small shapeshifter offered his now sweaty hand to shake. His uncle took it with a big smile and shook it, smiling at how silly his nephew was acting like.

“How’s everything going, bud? I received your letter, and my “boos” let me out of vacation so I used that opportunity to come here and help you myself” The older Reed explained.

“Really? Oh, thank you!” Freid said excited, hugging his Uncle happily. A cute, tender hug that turned out to be a bit uncomfortable when it lasted more than two minutes.

“Amm” Michael tried “Are...Are you gonna let me go?” he asked with a nervous giggle. 

Freid almost jumped, realizing how embarrassing that was “Yes… Ummm… yes, sorry. I… I just never thought of meeting my hero” he admitted. That made Mike smile “Aw! You’re so sweet! Come here, big boy!” he finally said, hugging him and giving him small pats on the back. 

After that cute meeting, they decided to go to the beach house where Favi, Chuy, Doctor Galbow were trying to study all the situation while Amber rested a bit. Chuy went to open the door when Freid knocked and had a very similar reaction to the presence of the famous doctor.

“Uncle Mike, this is my friend Chuy!” Freid said excitedly. The older shapeshifter smiled “Hello, Chuy! Nice to meet another future doctor partner!” 

“H-Hello M-Mr. Michael Philip Reed… It’s… It’s an honor to meet you” The young zombie said, trying not to scream with emotion. 

“Mike? Hey! The best student of his generation? How’s my little genius?” Doctor Galbow asked, going to the door to greet the shapeshifter. 

Now was Mike’s turn to be excited “Oh, God! Doctor Galbow! How are you, teacher?” he exclaimed “My tutor! I can’t believe you still look like the day I got graduated! Well, I do believe… I mean, werewolves don’t age unless they get silver intoxication, of course, but…You know… Hahaha, I’m still the silly med student you knew” 

Galbow only laughed “It’s been a long time since the last time I saw you, Mike. We got a lot to talk about” the werewolf giggled as he took him inside.

Of course, Chuy and Freid were now even more excited, looking with admiration in their eyes at their heroes while they talked. The fangirling invading Favi’s mind too when she saw just how handsome Mr. Reed was. They were listening to them talking about a member of the family where Mike worked: the Dhampir. “You’re such a lucky guy! We don’t always have the chance to work with Dhampirs!” Galbow said happily.

“Well, she’s a sweet girl, but she seems to be always in danger… The situation at San Diego is complicated; lots of conflicts with a certain anti-monster group” The older shapeshifter explained. 

“Dhampirs are a myth, who is wondering about myths when we have a crime to solve?” a still sleepy and in-pain Amber groaned as she entered the room where they were talking, stopping on her tracks where she realized who was there. 

“Dr. Mike?” the dark elf asked. Michael stood and walked closer to her, pale as if he had seen a ghost. “Little girl?” he asked before hugging her. Amber hugged him back and cried on his shoulder. 

Now everyone was confused “Wait, what?” Freid asked, trying to make synapsis to process the info with no success. 

Amber looked up at Mike “I’ll never be capable of thank you enough, Doctor,” she said, remembering all that happened in the past and hugging him tightly again almost like a lifeline.

“I’m glad to see that you grow up healthy and beautiful… Just as I told you once… And that you are out of that place!” Mike whispered excitedly to her, blushing a bit.

“Can someone please explain to me what is happening?! How do you know my Uncle, Amber?!” Freid demanded.

“I- I didn’t know he was your Uncle! And… it’s actually a hard story tell. But I think I owe you an explanation” she explained, going to sit with Mike to a couch in front of the guys to tell them the story.


	14. Inspiration for being a doctor.

A small girl was curled up in a corner of a dark room. She was lonely and scared, hungry but she refused to eat. She had only passed one week at the orphan house but was still very scared of everything. Her little eyes were filled with tears and she was starting to show dehydration symptoms. 

Even if the housekeeper had no other information than her name, she was still concerned about the new arrival. She thought that the little dark elf was depressed by the loss of her parents, but that was normal with all the kids who arrived… She was concerned about her physical health! She couldn't let s little girl die like that. She decided to call a doctor; son of her best friend and, for what she'd heard, a prodigy of monster medicine. 

The young man had just graduated from university and he was pretty young. His blonde hair shining even in the darkness of the room. He'd just the basic information about the girl, of course, and his first challenge was making her out of the room. He walked close to the girl, trying to be silent as he tried to smile the best he could; he felt how his heart was breaking with every sob of the girl. 

"Amber?" he asked kindly, with the sweetest voice he could. He froze when the small being turned to look at him, her blue eyes all swollen and her wet soaked in tears “I am Mike, I’m a doctor and I’m here to help you” he said, going to kneel by her side. 

The little dark elf looked scared "A doctor?" she asked shyly, trying to wipe away the tears which somehow continued falling like waterfalls."I'm fine… I don't need a doctor… Mom says it's expensive to see a doctor and we don't have enough money to pay for it" the girl sobbed.

Oh! Now the doctor understood “Amber… are you ok with me calling you that way?” he approached more to her, trying to build some confidence with her. He looked at her black hair covering half of her face. She only nodded “Yes, that’s my name after all” she whispered, trying to control her tears.

Mike couldn’t help but chuckle at that… well, she was right. “Okay, Amber… Do you know why are you here?” he tried to make her look into his eyes. Her blue orbits shining in the dark. 

“A… A man arrived home and told me that my mom was with my dad now… And I’m concerned now, doctor” Amber explained sadly, “I think my mom is trapped at the graveyard! We always go there and maybe she got lost there. Maybe they don’t let her go out” she cried desperately, “The other kids told me that she’s never gonna come back! Did she forget me? I have to give her her medication for amnesia... I… I don’t want her to leave me! I must go out of here to look for her, please. I promise I’ll be ok. Please, you gotta help me to find her!” she begged, tugging his arm as she cried harder.

Oh, no! What had they done! That was what he hated about people that didn’t do the right things nor told the things the right way. How was he gonna explain to a scared 9-year-old girl that she was an orphan now? How was he gonna tell her that she’ll never see her beloved mother again?! He looked at the panic in Amber’s eyes and his heart broke. She just wanted to save the mother that she thought was in danger. And he felt his heart reducing to ashes when he felt her small, cold body against him, hugging him and asking time after time why her mother was not there. He simply hugged her back, holding back some tears so she couldn’t see him crumbling. He couldn’t let her see the only person that she’d trust since she arrived at the orphan house being weak!

“Amber, I need to tell you something… But I need you to come with me, ok? We can’t stay much time here” The shapeshifter said softly, and, after a brief nod of the girl in his arms he got up, carrying her outside that dark room and taking her to her bedroom, making her sit on the bed while he knelt in front of her with a warm expression. 

She there could finally see his golden hair, his white uniform, and his calming green eyes. She looked at him, waiting for him to do something, anything, as she breathed more calmly. 

Michael only took a deep breath and tried to explain the best he could, assuring her it was not her fault, telling her that now her mother now felt no more pain and that she’ll always be there for her. “Maybe you can’t see her, but she’ll always be with you. She’ll protect you from heaven, that way, whenever you need her, she’ll be here with you, helping you the best she can”.

Amber seemed to understand the deal, nodding at the end. She held her tears but asked for one thing “Can… Can we go to visit her gravestone?” And, of course, Mike had no heart to deny it! He took her to the graveyard to give the last goodbye to her mother. He finally allowed himself to cry beneath his dark glasses, looking at how the girl cleaned her parent’s gravestones carefully, placing flowers for them. A small thing like her shouldn’t suffer this! She never asked for a maniac to make a massive shooting at the mall where her mother worked! She didn’t deserve that! 

“Are you gonna go and leave me like them?” the voice of the innocent girl sounding, making him wake up from the sadness he was passing through with her.   
“Of course no, little girl! I’ll be here with you for a while… I may have to leave after that, but… I’ll tell you what; this will be our secret…” Mike tried to smile as she looked down at his wrist, taking off a coffee-grain bracelet that his mother had given him when he started med school.

“My mom gave me this on my first day as a medical student and I want you to have it, that way we’ll always be together no matter what” he explained, handing her the gift. “Are you sure, doctor Mike?” Amber asked, looking up at him with a small light in his eyes; a light that Mike thought he’d never see. “Of course, little girl” he smiled, putting the bracelet on her small wrist. 

The young doctor stayed at the orphan house for a couple of weeks, where he took care of Amber and inspected how she grew around other kids. At first, she was shy and fearful but he helped her to trust, to smile again. He also discovered her love for the brain; for being just 9 years old, she was smarter than other kids talking about simple topics of brain workings, and he had a small hope that she’d decide to be a future in the future. Amber’s thoughts weren’t far from that. She’d find inspiration in that young doctor; she wished to help others the way he helped her. 

The day he left Amber was crying, but keeping hope up when he told her that he’d come back one day. And as he left he turned to see her as she played with other kids and the housekeeper smiled at him “What was her diagnostic?” she asked.

“Just give her love. Tons of love. She deserves all the love you all can provide” the doctor said before he walked away; small tears falling down his soft cheeks.


	15. Perfect murderer.

After finishing the story of how they met, Amber stood “I-I’m sorry, I need to drink coffee” she said, getting up and running to the kitchen to try to hide the tears that were filling up her eyes. She was waiting for the water to go warm when she felt two strong hands touching her shoulders “You know that you don’t have to hide your feelings… Not from me, Amber” Mike whispered “I promised I’d come back with you. And I did, not only because of my nephew wrote the letter asking for help”.

“Mike, I'm not that girl who you met years ago at the orphan house….I've changed… please, you weren’t coming back for me,” Amber said, looking down.

“You have a mistake right there. I wrote to Mrs. Leuthold asking for you. She told me you were studying medicine and… well, I brought you a gift. I was thinking of giving it to you at the school, but, we are right here, right now” he smiled, taking out of his back a small box “I know how much you love the brain so, when I saw this, I immediately thought of you, open it” he smiled, blushing a bit.

The dark elf raised an eyebrow before opening the box and gasping at the content “Wow! Mike! You shouldn’t-”

“But I did. Do you want me to help you with that?” he asked kindly. She nodded and turned around, raising her hair as he placed the collar around her neck. It had a brain-shaped pendant with small flowers around it. 

“Thank you very much” she smiled, pulling up her sleeve to reveal the coffee bracelet he gave her “I still have it” she giggled shyly.  
“And it’s still our small secret” he chuckled, blushing a bit.

“Amber! We have news about the syringe that Chuy and Favi found!” Doctor Galbow called out from the living room. 

“I-I should go check on that,” Amber said, parting slowly “Yes, you go. I’ll check on the coffee” Mike said, looking down at the almost boiling water. 

The dark elf walked onto the living room, looking at their friends checking on pictures “What’s going on?” she asked confused.

“Well, we have one good and one bad new. Plus, we are waiting for the toxicology results, thank God my dad works with the police and forensic professionals” Favi explained, looking at her with a mix of happiness and concern. “The good one is that your fingerprints are not there and the bad one is that there are no actual fingerprints on this thing!” the nekomata looked again and again at the picture of the syringe, turning it around to see if she could find another thing.

“Have you tried everything?” Amber asked, sounding almost frustrated. 

"Yes! We've tried-" Chuy started before being cut by Michael Reed. 

"Have you tried a negative energy study?" the biggest shapeshifter asked, getting a weird look from everyone as he gave Amber her cup of coffee and she was trying hard not to smile "Thanks" she whispered. 

"Negative energy? Are you telling us that the suspect is…?" Freid asked, visibly surprised. He knew that those beings never left any kind of fluid, fiber or fingerprints; but was it possible that there was someone with those characteristics doing all this killing? If it was true, then they were in terrible danger.

"There's only one way of knowing," Doctor Galbow said, looking at the picture he had for his own "Apply the matter and energy potentiator" he instructed. 

The guys looked at each other "But, Doctor. You have to go out of the room. The energy and matter potentiator is dangerous for werewolves" Chuy said concerned. The doctor nodded and went to cover himself at the other room while the students applied the green liquid. To their surprise, the lecture turned out to be positive, changing into a deep blue color.

"Oh no" was the general response, asking themselves how were they gonna catch the guy. 

"Was the result so bad?" Doctor Galbow asked from the other room. 

"It turned blue… We're going after an invisible man" A frustrated Amber groaned before taking a big sip of her still boiling coffee.


	16. The usual life of an invisible being.

The mirrorless home smelled like alcohol and rotten pizza. The soft yellow walls were stained with wine and beer as well as ketchup, cheese, and other fluids. It was all a mess. Broken picture frames decorated the living room where a lot of broken bottles of different kinds of alcohol lay on the wooden floor. 

Apparently, there was nobody home. But when an invisible presence moved another beer from the packed and started drinking it, it was obvious that someone was there.  
A naked, invisible man, surrounded by several weapons of all kinds. 

He was awfully drunk; that was the aftermath of his job. He still wasn't used to that. He didn't enjoy killing, but it was the only way for him to have something good to eat. He never had wanted to kill people! He'd never liked that. He still had nightmares of his first victim and it had passed 187 years ago. He’d killed 635 persons and he had a record of them all as well as the information of his clients and, even if he wasn’t the monster who wanted them dead, he’d to live with the guilt of killing. He only followed instructions, but, damn! The persons who contacted him for service sometimes were cruel as hell. He'd done almost everything: different kinds of torture, killed using fire, water, stones, knives, spoons, scissors, poison and more. 

"It's a thankless job," he said before taking another sip to the black beer. He was thinking of how sick the vampire he'd killed. He looked up at the ceiling as he took another sip "But somebody has to do it" he groaned. 

His mother would be very disappointed; she’d have told him that there was another way. A better way, a way that he’d never find. He didn't remember a lot about his parents… he just remembered that they loved him even if he was different, he still had their voices and the phrases they used to say in his head: "Do something smart with your life!" said his father. But they never told him what; maybe they were waiting for him to miraculously find a way to perfection, to be the perfect son they wanted. 

But it was useless to remember them now; they'd been dead for three hundred years and forty-five days. They died in a terrible disaster that a monster caused… he was too small to remember the most of that. The only thing he remembered was that he was playing with his mother and then they tried to hide him. Minutes later all he knew was that he was surrounded by fire.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door “Damn, the pizza guy is here” He stood and felt his all-time backache, groaning in pain as he went to put on his underwear and a t-shirt “I’m going” he called out, already feeling the delicious taste of the pepperoni on his tongue. 

“Ok, the guy on the phone said it’d cost $10, right?” The invisible man asked as he opened the door, checking on his wallet to take out the money.

But he didn’t smell the pizza, he didn’t see the regular faun who delivered them. Instead, he felt how a green liquid fell down his head to his whole body. 

“What the-?!” He groaned in pain as he tried to get back just to feel a couple of cold hands against his chest, pushing him into the house. 

“You did it! You bastard! You killed him!” Amber was screaming at him, fighting against herself for holding back her fists from his face. And now, he was confused and scared at the same time “What?! Girl, I’ve killed hundreds of people, who are you talking about?!” the man asked.

“You know you did it! You went to the hospital and killed him!” the young girl pointed to him, being held by the two shapeshifters.

And now the drunk invisible guy understood. She was the girl checking on his last victim at the hospital “Oh, you mean the vampire!” he hissed “Sorry, girly, I just did what the guy who is paying me asks" the now VERY visible man said "But I'm still confused, how did you find me?".

The younger shapeshifter smiled proudly “With your Negative Energy, each revelation color is different and yours is a unique dark blue. By the way, now your body is soaked on an energy and matter potentiator; you’ll have to take a bath for taking it out… and you, Mr. Ronald Spantheus need a really good bath; you smell like hell” 

“Well, look! The kids made their homework! You investigated me too” Ronald said, rolling his eyes “What do you want to let me be? Money? My client is gonna pay me tomorrow, you can take all the money!” 

“We want your client,” Amber groaned coldly “And you’ll take us to them; if he suspects... if they run away because of something you reveal, you’ll be the one to take their place and you’ll be in jail” she hissed.

“Okay, okay! whatever! You can have my client but just let me be free” the invisible man said “I don’t want more trouble” 

“Good, we’ll stay here just in case you decide to run” she concluded.

“Ugh! Please be my guest” he almost screamed at her, taking his a sit on the couch.

Late night, Amber was looking at the ceiling, thinking and almost falling asleep. But she couldn't, she had to stay awake. 

"Amber? Are you okay?" Michael approached with a warm smile "You need to sleep" he whispered as he sat next to her. 

"I don't need to sleep" the dark elf rolled her eyes.

"Of course you need to sleep! I still remember how you used to fell asleep in my arms while I read to you, little girl" he smiled "You looked cute when you snorted while you slept peacefully" he said playfully. 

"Oh, shut up" she laughed, blushing lightly at the memories. It'd been a long time since she last had slept eight peaceful hours straight "I never snorted" she whispered. 

"You did! And they were the cutest little girl ever!" the shapeshifter of San Diego smiled warmly. After a small pause, he looked at her with a serious expression “Amber… what are you gonna do when we catch the bad person who ordered Dr. Jarbloody’s death?” 

That was a hard question. Amber wanted to kill the guy, to make him suffer, to make him regret ordering her almost-father death. But deep inside she knew she couldn't… She didn’t want to turn into an evil monster like that person. “We’ll make them confess and then we’ll take them to the police” she explained coldly.

Michael nodded “Okay… Rest now. I’ll stay awake to check on this invisible guy” he said, pulling her closer in a warm embrace and letting her rest on his chest, feeling how she trembled shyly against him.

“Thanks, Mike” the dark elf whispered, closing her eyes and falling asleep, feeling warm and protected… a sensation of love that she hadn’t felt since the last time she saw him when she was younger.


	17. Catching a liar.

It was a cold day and it was raining. The perfect day for closing a deal. The invisible man was waiting for his client on a dark alley; he’d washed his face for so he couldn’t suspect a thing, the rest of his body was still blue. Ronald was wearing black pants and a brown sweater; if someone could see him, they'd see that he was sweating, not because of how warm his outfit was but because he was nervous...REALLY nervous. It was the first time that someone discovered him. 

Amber and the shapeshifters were behind a trash bin, waiting patiently. The younger Reed was looking at the dark elf "Are you okay, Am? You look tense," he asked, patting her back. She simply nodded, looking at the entrance of the alley, feeling how her blood ran cold inside her veins and arteries. She could hear her own heartbeat. She felt sad. Favi and Chuy were at Dr. Jarbloody’s funeral. She should have been there, she needed to say goodbye to the man who was like her father. She wanted to finally cry his death. But she was there, waiting impatiently for catching the person who ordered the invisible man to kill Dr. Jarbloody. She looked up at the sky and a single tear left her eye “I promise your death will not be in vain” she whispered. 

The dark elf could remember all the amazing moments she spent with him, all the things he taught her. “If you want to be a neurologist you’ll have to learn a lot of things and I want to teach you those things" was the last thing he said the first day they met. 

"Being a doctor doesn't mean power, doesn't mean you have the right to treat people like your slaves. All that matters from now on, even if you are still a student, is saving lives; you don’t know if what looks like a simple smile can make others feel better or even save someone from committing suicide! I’m not a saint myself but at least I want you to be better than me so, remember that the day you get your Speciality or a Master's degree you MUST still treat people with humanity, empathy, and kindness” Those words would never leave her brain. He’d tell her that during one of their coffee evenings and she was nearly crying at the end of that.

She’d always miss his jokes full of wisdom “Do you see that mirror? You are maybe questioning why do I have a mirror in here? I mean, it’s useless for me... why do I have it in my office? It’s part of a joke and part of a lesson. You see, when I was a student like you, I had a teacher who was very cruel to us. He used to have a mirror that had had a phrase that read “ONLY WORTHY MONSTERS CAN LOOK AT THEMSELVES IN THIS MIRROR” and we all were vampires in that class. So, every Friday he used to call every one of us to stand in front of that mirror asking if we could see our face there and, of course, we always said no. He used to laugh and tell us that we were idiots, that we would never be good doctors and other kinds of offensive words; we were tired. One day we took flour and put it on our faces and we were finally able to see our faces there. The teacher was pissed… When I started teaching here, I placed a similar mirror there and I storage a packet of flour; I wrote a phrase in that mirror that read “ONLY AMAZING MONSTERS CAN LOOK AT THEMSELVES IN THIS MIRROR” and if I had a vampire, ghost or invisible creature in my group they’d always use some flour. Now I have it in here and, when someone is sad I fake to see myself making silly faces in the mirror for them to laugh a bit … Remember, Amber, no one deserves to be treated with cruelty; we have to always make sure of leaving a smile on other’s faces” he told her while he looked with longing at the big mirror on the wall.

“I know that you are a good and passionate girl and that you’ll not have problems when you want to make your dreams true. I know that if you wanna be a neurosurgeon you’ll be the best neurosurgeon not only in the city but in the world! You have that capacity, Amber… You know, you make me think of a woman I used to know; she was really smart and innocent. She used to amaze me with her knowledge even if she was ridiculously young” he said once “And what happened to the woman?” she asked. After a deep silence that was almost painful, he responded: “She left” and then none of them talked about that again.

The dark elf couldn’t believe that a man as good as that could be death; killed in the worst way. Who could ever want him death?! She was asking herself those thinks when she suddenly heard steps coming closer. She looked back at the entrance of the alley and saw a tall figure standing there, looking at the invisible man. 

“There you are, Ronald,” a deep voice said, walking closer to the assassin with a big case.

“Hey, I said no names,” the invisible man said.   
The dark figure only chuckled “Of course, yes. Well, here’s the last part of your money” he said, leaving the case on the floor.

Michael used a mirror to see how was the client. He was a tall man; he couldn’t see his face. He was all dressed in black, wearing a black hat and a scarf.

Amber’s phone started vibrating, it was a message from Favi “Am, we have the results of the chemicals on the syringe; there’s something weird… It wasn’t a normal poison; there’s actually no normal chemics that could affect someone, maybe Dr. Jarbloody was already too weak that he couldn’t take it anymore; that’d mean his death was really slow and painful” the text read. 

“Oh, no! Favi, he didn’t deserve that… we’re about to catch the monster who did this, are you two waiting for the body?” Amber texted back.

“Yes, we’ve been waiting here for hours. They say that they couldn’t find it” Favi wrote.

Turning her attention back to the invisible man and his client, she could hear the full conversation.

“Is it all that you promised?” the murdered asked.

“Even more. Enjoy it! You’ll never have to kill again with this amount of money” replied the tall man.

“Why do you do this? I mean, why that vampire? He was a doctor, wasn’t he? He could save lives, why to kill him?” Ronald asked.

“I thought you never asked questions… but I guess after all you’ve past you deserve to know” the client said.

Amber got another message from Favi “Amber! Dr. Jarbloody’s body is missing! The doctors say that they checked the cameras of the outside of the revision room and they saw a tall man taking his body away” 

What?! that wasn’t possible, that was nuts! And now the young woman was furious. This man, this… son of a… now had stolen the body of a man who didn’t deserve it! Only God knew what he’d done with him! 

“He was an evil being… let’s just say it’s redemption in a way” the client explained. He suddenly felt a couple of strong hands pulling him down on the ground “A redemption, you motherfucker?! A fucking redemption?! You are the one who should be de-” a furious Amber was screaming at the man beneath her when she suddenly stopped. Her temperature went down and her eyes wide. From all the possible things that could happen she definitely wasn’t expecting that.

“A-Amber?” A breathless vampire asked.

“Dr. Jarbloody?”


	18. Confessions.

Amber let go of the neck of the vampire and backed up “What the hell? Doctor Jarbloody, what is going on? I-I thought you were dead! Why? What? I… I don’t understand!” she cried, looking at the man who was still on the floor. She was happy that he was alive but still couldn’t believe what was happening. Did he ordered his own dead?! Well, his faked-dead because he looked VERY alive at that moment.

“I know what you are thinking, Amber. But just let me explain” The vampire said, sitting on the ground. What he was gonna say sounded cruel but it was the truth “I’m not the amazing being you think, I’m not the person you know. The truth is that I’ve been lying to you” he started.

“Well, what a freaking nice way to start an explanation!” Amber whispered as tears fell on her cheeks like waterfalls. She was shaking, not because of the cold weather, but because of all the feelings that were mixing inside her.

Doctor Jarbloody looked down “It was three hundred years ago. I used to live in a village with my wife and my daughter; we were peaceful and we were always kind to everyone there. But one day they found out about our nature and thought we were parts of those long-forgotten legends of evil vampires who killed people just for pleasure and they decided that we were a danger for them” he narrated as small tears formed in his eyes.

“That night… My wife was reading with my daughter when someone knocked at the door. The whole village was there, asking if we were those beasts. They wanted to kill us! They wanted to put out hearts on wooden stakes” he still could see those pictures in his beloved family running away from them “And they killed my wife and daughter. They went through their hearts with wooden crosses and then they burned them” he started crying as he looked at Amber “I couldn’t handle that pain, I couldn’t control my rage… I killed everyone or that was what I thought” he looked up at the invisible man.

Ronald was surprised and furious. It was him! He was the monster who killed his family! Thanks to that bastard he had grown up to be a murderer. 

Then I ran away. I had to redeem myself… So I decided to finally apply my university knowledge and get work as a doctor. I helped and I thought my past was far behind me; yes, I had nightmares, but they weren’t that bad. But one day, a psychiatrist friend asked me for help with a case: A young invisible man who was traumatized with a part of his past. He was in the village the day I caused the tragedy… he saw the death of his parents” Jarbloody looked down, showing pain in his face.

“And my nightmares got worse. I couldn’t sleep during the day and I suffered several anxiety attacks… Meds weren’t enough. When I found you, Amber, I knew I had found a treasure! You were so excited about learning and had several ideas. You were the one who gave me this idea!” the doctor said.

Amber was trembling in sadness “The idea of neurotoxins of double action for Alzheimer patients” she whispered, “You used me!” 

“And looked what happened! It worked! I don’t have all those bad dreams thanks to you!... All I needed was an external protein for increasing tau propagation. I paid this assassin to “kill” the murderer of his parents! And I felt pity for him so now I gave him all the extra money I had. And of course, I couldn’t stay at that school! I need a new environment! I needed to run away” the bloodsucker concluded.

“Do you know all the damn trouble we had to pass thanks to you?! Doctor Preich is looking for me because he thinks I killed you! I haven’t slept well all this time! I trusted you! I thought I was like your daughter and you repay me like this?!” the dark elf asked, sobbing.

“I’m sorry if you got into this mess like that… But not everything was a lie; I do think you are capable of doing all those things you dreamed of-” her past almost-father said, trying to stand and take her hands.

“No! Get away from me! Your past was hunting and you decided to take the easy way out! You don’t have an idea of how much I admired you! How much I wished you to be my father! You made us believe you were good! You faked your death! You are not my father! I wish I’d never knew you! I wish you were in jail, death is not enough punishment for you!” Amber screamed at him, walking closer, wanting to hurt him in any possible way. 

Michael stood and went to hug her, trying to stop her “Amber, don’t do this. He’s not worth it” he whispered to her, calming her down a bit. She nodded “Yes...you’re right,” she said, looking up as it stopped raining and the sun appeared, drying her tears slowly.

“My dad died a hundred years ago and I don’t want to have another one, nor you nor anybody else” she groaned to the vampire “Now go before we call the police” she warned.  
Doctor Jarbloody was gonna say goodbye, but he couldn’t. He felt weird. His past was not hunting him now; the thought of the girl who trusted him telling him all those things was worse than a stake in the heart. He turned to leave when Ronald’s fast hands took off his coat, scarf, and hat and pushed him into the ray of the sun.

A deadly scream could be heard as the vampire was slowly burning. Amber tried to run to pull him back into the shadow but was held by the invisible man “No, I did it because he deserved it. He’d leave you and me in pain” he groaned.

“But he’s still a person! He helped others!” the dark elf cried, still being as noble as always, not carrying about her own suffering. But she couldn’t do anything as she saw how the doctor turned into ashes.


	19. See you soon.

Amber was alone in her room, small tears were falling down her cheek. The police were still looking for her, Dr. Jarbloody was now completely gone and Mike was about to leave. She was still hiding in the house next to the beach and all her muscles ached.

“What a week, wasn’t it?” An older shapeshifter asked with a kind voice, walking close to her.

“Mike, no… Please, if you are gonna leave, just go” the dark elf whispered, looking down as more tears fell.

“Amber, don’t say that… I’m sorry it took me a lot to see you again, but, I had work and…” Michael explained “I promise I’ll come back for you; someday I’ll take you with me so you can, you know, make research and stuff; I’ll see you soon,” he said, blushing and hugging her. He reached down to touch her chin to make her look at him. His heart broke when he saw how sad she looked “Oh, Amber; I wish I could do more for you” he hugged her tightly.

“You’ve already done enough… I don’t have a way to thank you for all you’ve done for me” she cried against his shoulder.

“Just don’t forget me” he begged against her ear.

Suddenly a sweaty Freid entered the room “We gotta leave, now!” he screamed, “The police are coming!” he exclaimed, opening the curtain of the room to show the marching policemen running to the house.

Amber was scared but tried to focus on what she had to do to run away. She took the emergency bag she had prepared and ran out of the house, being followed by the shapeshifters. They arrived at another emergency house and locked themselves there; they were scared and sad.

“We can’t continue like this; it’s too dangerous” she concluded, looking down sadly “I need to finish this and give up. I can’t put you in more risk” 

She got up and started walking in the direction of the policemen.


	20. Epilogue.

“No, stop!” Mike called, running to hug her from behind “Please, don’t leave. We’ll find the way to get out of this, but please don’t do this!” he begged between sobs.

Amber cried hard “But how?” she asked, turning to see him.

Freid walked closer to them “We can’t stay in the city; they’ll continue following our step”

Michael couldn’t lose them… they were already so important to him “Come with me! I’ll ask Spine for permission but I’m sure he’ll say yes. Please, I can’t let you both unprotected” 

The young students were looking at him in disbelief “You think that could be possible?” they questioned in unsound.

The shapeshifter of San Diego nodded “I promise I’ll give my everything to save you both”

After a tearful goodbye, Michael left, promising them he’d call them when he had permission for them to stay at the Walter Manor or when he had found a safe place for them.

Amber stayed with Freid, crying as the stress and sadness inundated her being.

They had to wait. They needed time. But they didn’t know if they had enough time.

They didn’t know if they had enough life left. But they knew they’d fight for a better life even if it was short.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! The Illusionist is here :D   
Thank you all so much for supporting this story :3   
Thanks to roseprincess2018 and ScorpioSnoopy666 for invited and letting me in this amazing au! Thank you very much.  
I really hoped you liked this fict :D Please, leave your comment for suggestions of future works and thoughts of this one :)  
That's it for this part of the story...
> 
> END? I don't know, perhaps, maybe...   
Continuation? Possible, I'd love to...  
Tacos? 5 please :v...
> 
> The Illusionist out!


End file.
